Importing from the UK - definitive guide (Q&A)

The_Conductor · 22-12-2007 11:59am

PowerHouseDan wrote:

I managed to get exempt from vrt on my car,i no i cant sell it for 12 months but can my partner drive my car?

That is entirely an insurance issue. Providing they have their own policy allowing to drive the car- or are allowed to do so on your policy- happy days. I can't see there being a problem- I lent my car to my little sister for 3 months, she drove it with 3rd party cover under my own policy (and paid the annual road tax for me as a thankyou).

S.

The_Conductor · 22-12-2007 11:59am

Spipov wrote:

would just like to make a quick update to re ask the question as 1/4 of the thread got chopped off with the m3 issue. cheers

Like to re-ask the question? It seems to have been nobbled.

Spipov · 22-12-2007 3:56pm

smccarrick wrote: »

Like to re-ask the question? It seems to have been nobbled.

there ya go:

Spipov wrote: »

quick question: i live here but my brother lives and works in uk and has a lexus there.
he wants me to have it for around 4-6 months driving here while he tries his hand on a different car (qashqai)
. can i get insured on his car (as a 3rd party driver) and drive it over here? ill have insurance and bills and whatever needed to show the car is registered under his name in the uk.

im going to give it back to him after those few months or if it stays here then id get it vrt'ed even though thats probably not an option as vrt is damn expensive on the lexus...

cheers for answering

blastman · 22-12-2007 6:22pm

I'm open to correction on this but I think an Irish resident can only get insurance on an Irish reg car. There are some exemptions to this e.g. driving a car that you bought in England back to Ireland, but they are all short-term and basically involve a temporary transfer of an existing Irish policy. Unless you have an Irish policy already, I doubt you can get any sort of long-term insurance on a UK car.

Spipov · 22-12-2007 8:56pm

i remember a few years back, when i was on international licence, my brothe was able to add me as 3rd party to drive his car for only £17 per year. laws changed in uk recently in that they dont do international licences anymore, but they do offer the insurance on EU licences as 3rd party - ergo i just did my full licence here. besides, the insurance would be all under his name with me as 3rd driver or named driver if u like... all paperwork and car stuff would still be registered in uk. itd be like an extended holiday of some sort ?

Spipov · 28-12-2007 4:47pm

no one can help or has any idea?

The_Conductor · 28-12-2007 5:46pm

Spipov wrote:

i remember a few years back, when i was on international licence, my brothe was able to add me as 3rd party to drive his car for only £17 per year. laws changed in uk recently in that they dont do international licences anymore, but they do offer the insurance on EU licences as 3rd party - ergo i just did my full licence here. besides, the insurance would be all under his name with me as 3rd driver or named driver if u like... all paperwork and car stuff would still be registered in uk. itd be like an extended holiday of some sort ?

Its entirely an insurance matter- Churchill and several others do still offer insurance such as they previously did- as a non-UK (not including Northern Ireland) licence- it probably is a lot higher than it would have been previously- but check online and ring for a quotation. It does tend to cost extra to have a third party driving your car abroad- something to keep in mind. The legalities regarding whether you should be allowed take the car into the country and drive it on a UK plate is entirely different matter. If you were to follow the letter of the law- its not allowed, and the car could potentially be impounded (you would be asked to prove when the car entered the country- ferry tickets would suffice). Ditto- if you went to register the car- its from when it entered the country- and you could be asked to prove it also. They do inspect quite a few of the imports, and tend to focus on the higher value marques.

S.

Shigsy · 30-12-2007 5:02pm

I bought a car from a seller in the UK and should be heading over next weekend to collect it (no payment has passed hands at all yet, ill be hand delivering a bank draft). I want to get a HPI check done on the car so i tried that online on the RAC HPI site but it's rejecting my credit card saying my expiry or name or something is wrong. Is it possible to get this check done over the phone (i only have the reg & owners name/address, no chassis number)? Ill try over the phone tomorrow I suppose. Anyway, how would I go about organising an RAC engineer to go out and physically inspect the car? Is this worth it? How much does it cost? Would anyone have a link or phone number I could use to arrange this RAC inspection?
As well as this, the guy i'm buying the car off says that the RAC site mentions it's not a good idea to give the chassis number to people so he said he'd rather not give me this number. I have the reg, will this be enough?
And finally, is the V5 doc the only single document i need to get off him when i collect the car? How does the car get changed into my name etc?

tech · 30-12-2007 6:26pm

Vital you get a HPI check done.

Shigsy · 30-12-2007 7:41pm

Yeah, i know. I tried online and it kept saying some of the details i was entering were incorrect. I rang my bank and they said that authorisation for the transaction had gone through 5 or 6 times so as far as they were concerned it was fine. She couldnt actually tell if any charge had been made so told me to check my 24hr banking online tomorrow and see if i get charged multiple times. The thing is, i had to include my email address when doing the HPI check and i never got any email at all so it doesn't look like it would have charged me anything. Ill have a route around the RAC HPI Check site tomorrow and see if i can find a number i can ring and do it over the phone.
Anyway, does anyone know anything about organising an RAC engineer to go out and inspect the vehicle?

N8 · 02-01-2008 2:38pm

Robertr wrote: »

(3) You will have to pay VAT on all cars under 6 mths old or less than 6,000kms even if they are from within the EU.

jayok wrote: »

From the Revenue's website - Document on VRT

13. When is VAT chargeable and payable?

In the case of a new means of transport i.e. land vehicles (excluding agricultural tractors) that were supplied six months or less after the date of first entry into service or have travelled 6,000 Kilometres or less, VAT is chargeable and normally payable at the time of registration in the State, even where there is evidence, e.g. an invoice, that VAT was paid in the country of purchase.

yellabelly wrote: »

If you are bringing in a UK registered car the VRO will only charge VAT if the car is less than 6 months since first registration or has less than 6000 Kms on the clock.

Hi Guys I have read through the thread as I am thinking of buying a nearly new car (dealer demonstrator) and it looks fairly clear that VAT is not payable on a three month old car with over 6000kms on the clock. Will there be any extra VRT payable on a car under six months or would it be business as usual?

daRobot · 02-01-2008 2:43pm

N8 wrote: »

Hi Guys I have read through the thread as I am thinking of buying a nearly new car (dealer demonstrator) and it looks fairly clear that VAT is not payable on a three month old car with over 6000kms on the clock. Will there be any extra VRT payable on a car under six months or would it be business as usual?

Vat IS payable on a car under six months old afaik

It's in both cases.. ie 3 months + 10000 miles = vat payable ,or 2 years + 1000 miles = vat payable

N8 · 03-01-2008 3:02pm

daRobot wrote: »

Vat IS payable on a car under six months old afaik

It's in both cases.. ie 3 months + 10000 miles = vat payable ,or 2 years + 1000 miles = vat payable

cheers M8 thanks for clearing that up for me - is there any further VRT implications on the car being less than six months old?

noel6071 · 03-01-2008 3:45pm

I bought a 1997 Toyota Celica, checked the VRT and it was 1770 euro which is mad, Its a November 1997 car 1.8 St with 110000 miles. I decided to price a 1998 Toyota Celica 1.8 St again November 1998 and it came up at 1593 euro how can this madness be? A 1998 car cheaper to clear than a 1997? I checked a 1996 Celica 1.8 with same mileage and in November 1996 it came up at 1385 how can they have this so wrong??? Any ideas? Thanks.

blastman · 03-01-2008 4:04pm

Shigsy wrote: »

And finally, is the V5 doc the only single document i need to get off him when i collect the car? How does the car get changed into my name etc?

Yes, although I'd recommend that you get a receipt of some sort as well, just in case. There is a small section of the V5C form that he sends back to the DVLA saying that the car was permanently exported. The car is changed to your name when you hand the V5C form into the VRT office, although you won't get the VLC until after the car is taxed for the first time.

Shigsy · 03-01-2008 4:09pm

noel6071 wrote: »

I bought a 1997 Toyota Celica, checked the VRT and it was 1770 euro which is mad, Its a November 1997 car 1.8 St with 110000 miles. I decided to price a 1998 Toyota Celica 1.8 St again November 1998 and it came up at 1593 euro how can this madness be? A 1998 car cheaper to clear than a 1997? I checked a 1996 Celica 1.8 with same mileage and in November 1996 it came up at 1385 how can they have this so wrong??? Any ideas? Thanks.

I wouldn't worry too much about the quote that you see online, the car has to be inspected in person when you bring it to the VRO to be registered anyway, so the price they give then is the only one that matters. I'm hopefully bringing in a car from England this weekend and the VRT is probably going to cost me 7k - 8k, so ill pay yours if you pay mine

blastman wrote: »

Yes, although I'd recommend that you get a receipt of some sort as well, just in case. There is a small section of the V5C form that he sends back to the DVLA saying that the car was permanently exported. The car is changed to your name when you hand the V5C form into the VRT office, although you won't get the VLC until after the car is taxed for the first time.

Cool, thanks for the info. I plan on typing up some kind of receipt to bring with me and get him to sign it.

Ta me anseo · 03-01-2008 5:30pm

Just my sixpence worth (again)

I got an AA data check done a week or two ago. The credit/debit online card payment usually will fail because it tries to check your address against the banks records but assumes it is a UK address. It won't accept Irish addresses even if you are able to fill one in. I got the check done over the phone (0044 800 056 8040) and I assume you can do the same with the RAC.

Data check is a must have!!

I would also strongly recommend a vehicle inspection also. I paid a deposit on a car recently but made them write on the invoice that it was refundable subject to confirmation of the cars history and the results of an independent inspection. The AA looked at it two days later and found quite a few problems (fuel leak, turbo control pipe needing replacement, A/C problem, brackets missing from boot hinges and most importantly: crash repair on the front right hand side!!) none of which I had spotted after spending nearly 1 1/2 hours looking around the car and taking it for a 45 minute test drive. Needless to say the repair was a first class job, but it left too many questions about what else might go wrong in the near future. While the inspection was pretty expensive (£125) it was the best money I ever spent. Got my deposit back and now on the search again.

Quattro · 03-01-2008 5:38pm

Hello, i was reading all this thread..wanna start buying damaged cars from NI, bring them to south, fix them in a Lithuanian garage (they do work very good and much cheaper). And sell them. What do i need to start it?

Is here anyone doing it, and is it profitable these days? I have experience doing it in my country.
How about insurance, do i need motor traders ins. or a private for start?

I see Vrt is going to depend on CO2 not on engine, and is it lower if car is damaged (wing, bonnet, bumper...etc.)?

What cars are the best to buy and what price range, the more the better?

Thanks for any information!

Ta me anseo · 03-01-2008 5:46pm

Just wondering how many people were thinking about buying a car from the UK but are now considering waiting until post July to avail of the new VRT and tax rates?

I could save about 2,000 in VRT and about 300 a year in road tax if I wait. Also, I am unsure how the resale value of my car would be affected if it ends up as an "old, expensive, tax rate vehicle". The financial savings are very tempting but the big problem is - I REALLY WANT MY CAR NOW!!!

gary the great · 03-01-2008 10:04pm

I know this has been discussed, but how are you guys paying for the cars? bank drafts? Do they accept the drafts and let you drive the cars away that day?

The value of the sterling is dropping so we're getting much better value on buying in england than before. Problem is, i have £8k sitting in the bank, i plan on spending about 4k on a motor over the coming months, but I want to change all my sterling into euros asap so i dont loose a lot in value.

I'll change the whole 8k over, but how much is generally being charged for converting your euros into sterling when paying for the car by using a bank draft or other accepted method??

gary the great · 04-01-2008 2:40am

just another thing, when your importing from the Uk, is the VRT listed on the Revenue website the maximum amount they will charge or is often even more/cheaper than whats listed?

The_Conductor · 04-01-2008 8:12am

gary the great wrote:

just another thing, when your importing from the Uk, is the VRT listed on the Revenue website the maximum amount they will charge or is often even more/cheaper than whats listed?

When I went in the pay the VRT- they actually asked me had I used the online calculation system for seeing how much the VRT was- I said I had, that it came to E4,800. They asked me did I want to run with this or did I want them to recalculate it then and there. I was a bit surprised- but asked them to recalculate it- it came in about 300 less (I have no idea why). This was in the Tallaght office.

tech · 04-01-2008 8:20am

£300 is is a nice extra saving would pay for the flights and ferry!

River King · 04-01-2008 1:48pm

Hi Folks.

New to the Forum and need some advise if possible.

I bought a car ( 2005 BMW 320d Sport ) in Northern Ireland prior to the new vrt rules being announced in December. I had originally hoped to drive the car until the new year and then re-register it.

Am i now right in saying that the new rules mean that if the car is re-registered after july 2008 my vrt liability could be cut in half, depending on its emmission band. I realise that is 7 months away and may not be possible for me to do that, but it is annoying me to think that the vrt may be almost €4,500 less at that time compared to now.

Any information greatly received.

Cheers.

Seth Brundle · 04-01-2008 3:46pm

If you are driving or have driven the car in the RoI then VRT must be paid by now.
If the car was brought down here on a trailer and kept on private property until July then, yes, you could then avail of the new VRT bands.

Quattro · 04-01-2008 4:28pm

And by the way what if i'm not a resident of Ireland, but have a pps. and address, bank etc.. maybe its possible to get something from it?

Ta me anseo · 04-01-2008 5:30pm

Just food for thought........

If you have a Laser card, you should have Maestro too. You can use this to pay anywhere in the UK that a debit card is accepted. Most garages are only delighted to have you use this instead of a draft or credit card as the money goes into their account immediately.

You will get (or at least I did) a much much better rate than by buying a bank draft. I was quoted a rate a week or two ago of .705 for a bank draft and used my laser card and got .725. Maestro purchases will include a 1.75% charge or something like that but it is limited to 11.00 euro or so so it is well worth it I think.

So, is anyone thinking of buying soon from the UK? Will you wait till post July or go for it know with the decent sterling rate?

finbarrk · 04-01-2008 11:48pm

Maybe this question has been asked already. What would happen if I brought in a car say in a months time and left it in a shed until the new VRT rates come in?
Will the VRT office need to see a receipt with proof of purchase on it with a date which would show that I had the car here before the new rates came in or could I just go in and pay the new rate as if I had just brought in the car the day before?

1not24get · 04-01-2008 11:55pm

Technically, IF YOU ARE NOT A CAR TRADER, when you bring the car into the state, you have until the end of the next working day to pay the VRT

http://www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/faqs/faq_cat8.htm

I brought a car in last March from England, drove it around, customs called to my front door after a week and gave me two weeks to pay the VRT. Probably exceptional as I'm in a border county and they watch us like hawks!

gary the great · 04-01-2008 11:57pm

Ta me anseo wrote: »

Just food for thought........

If you have a Laser card, you should have Maestro too. You can use this to pay anywhere in the UK that a debit card is accepted. Most garages are only delighted to have you use this instead of a draft or credit card as the money goes into their account immediately.

You will get (or at least I did) a much much better rate than by buying a bank draft. I was quoted a rate a week or two ago of .705 for a bank draft and used my laser card and got .725. Maestro purchases will include a 1.75% charge or something like that but it is limited to 11.00 euro or so so it is well worth it I think.

So, is anyone thinking of buying soon from the UK? Will you wait till post July or go for it know with the decent sterling rate?

So you use your maestro card, never thoguht of that. thats probably what i will do then.....

Importing from the UK - definitive guide (Q&A)

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